2017

AS READERS MIGHT DETECT, I am scraping the bottom of the barrel in which I store my future quiz questions; also I am going overseas yet again in July, so there may not be more of these for a while. But here goes.

The Old Bedford River had a six-mile drainage canal that was so long and straight that you would not be able to see a boat at the other end because of the Earth’s curvature. So, why was this place often visited by flat-earth believers?

When Brunel had completed the construction of the mighty iron ship SS Great Britain and had launched it, what major problem was encountered?

Big Ben is the hour bell of the clock in the Palace of Westminster; the clock’s clockwork mechanism is wound up 3 times a week; how long does it take a man to wind it up?

Complete this quote: “Inviting the object of your desire back to your place for the first time, pouring some drinks, dimming the lights, then switching on the stereo and playing [one of Captain Beefheart’s records] would surely be the precursor to …”

In 1915 the Melbourne Police organised dozens of simultaneous raids on illegal alcohol establishments in Fitzroy. The raids were synchronised to happen when the Fitzroy Town Hall clock struck midnight. What happened at midnight?

1. Who was the director of the British MI6 who pointed out that semen made a good invisible ink for use by spies?

2. When James Dodson, at the age of 47, found that life insurance was available only for persons up to age 45, he decided to start his own insurance scheme that catered for all ages. Why didn’t it go ahead?

3. What was unusual about F.D.C.Willard, FRSC – who co-wrote a paper on low temperature physics with Professor Jack Hetherington?

4. What was it that Mick Jagger had, of enormous size, that greatly impressed the young journalist Lola Bensky?

5. What did Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II say, when someone who had not recognised her said that she looked like the Queen?

As I keep saying, this quiz is doomed – I have been doing it for 20 years now – but I keep finding enough questions to make up a set. So here is February 2017 – have a go by posting a comment, or just enjoy it.

1. Erasmus, in 1526, wrote the first modern book of table manners. Including: Instead of licking ones’ greasy fingers, or wiping them on one’s jacket, one should … do what?

2. The British driving test was instigated in 1935. Who was the first candidate?

3. In 1970 the Cairo Opera House was engulfed by fire. Why didn’t the fire brigade attend?

4. Anders Celsius devised the centigrade scale for temperatures in 1742, but it had a flaw – how did Carolus Linnaeus improve it?

5. David Wolf was an astronaut on the Space Shuttle in 1997. What pressing need did he have, unique among astronauts, that was facilitated and enabled specifically for him?

This is the 20th anniversary of the quiz!! But, it is doomed. When I started it in 1997, Google and Wikipedia had not even been dreamed of, let alone invented. I am running out of obscure questions, information is so easily available these days! Anyway, here is a special Captain Beefheart quiz –

1. Captain Beefheart, when a young man would often wash his hair & keep it wet – why?

2. Why was Trout Mask Replica once chosen for Desert Island Discs?

3. CBS used a brand new disc-cutting lathe to make the master recording of Doc At The Radar Station. Once the cutting began, the band and the engineers all went out for a meal … and what happened?

4. The Captain came to regret making the too-commercial LP Bluejeans and Moonbeams. (My mother liked it). What did he advise his fans to do with it?

5. Beefheart added his cousin, Victor Hayden, to the band on bass clarinet. What was remarkable about Victor’s style of playing?